The Starlight that Binds
The day Celestia and Luna retire is getting closer than ever, and Starlight completely forgets that the mane 6 and most likely Spike are going to become rulers of Equestria, meaning they will no longer be able to teach at the School of Friendship. In particular, Twilight, being the future leader of Equestria, is likely moving away from Ponyville. Starlight goes through a period of grief realizing that she will eventually have to say goodbye to Twilight and her friends. On top of that, Starlight now has the responsibility to find new teachers to run the School of Friendship alongside her. Unfortunately, all of her closest friends are unable to join her at the school for various reasons. Trixie is a traveling magician, Sunburst is a crystaller at the Crystal Empire, and Maud and Mudbriar are only into sticks and rocks most of the time. Unable to find new teachers to hire, Starlight becomes so overwhelmed to the point where Starlight loses her motivation to do her guidance counseling duties at the school. The young 6, seeing that Starlight isn’t in her office, go to Twilight, worried that Starlight disappeared. Twilight eventually finds Starlight and pulls her into her office to talk to her. When Twilight asks her if something is wrong, Starlight breaks down in tears, venting that it’s not fair that Twilight and her friends have to leave the school and leave her to find ones who she doesn’t know all that well. Starlight runs back to her room at the castle. Later that night, Starlight has a dream where she is overwhelmed with having to run the school with new teachers. Suddenly, Twilight appears in her dream, but she glows and speaks to her in a bizarre, mystical tone. Starlight realizes that it is not Twilight but a spiritual manifestation of the Tree of Harmony itself. It ominously tells her to go to the treehouse of harmony, and Starlight wakes up from her dream. Starlight goes to the treehouse of harmony where the spirit of the Tree of Harmony appears before her. The spirit reminds Starlight of how much she has grown as a pony and friend which lead her to become the School’s guidance counselor in the first place. It then reminds her of the friendship of the young six and their connection to the tree and elements of harmony. It’s then that Starlight gets the idea to ask the young six to be her teachers at the School of Friendship. Finally, the spirit reminds Starlight that although she and Twilight won’t be seeing each other as often, their friendship will remain forever. Starlight thanks the spirit of the Tree of Harmony for the advice and encouragement, and goes to Twilight. After apologizing to Twilight for running out the day before, she explains everything from her dream to her encounter with the spirit of the Tree of Harmony. Twilight and Starlight then call the young six to Twilight’s office and explain that Starlight will become the permanent headmare of the School of Friendship when Twilight leaves to become the ruler of Equestria. Starlight then tells the young 6 that she would love to have them as teachers, commending their friendship and their connection to the Tree of Harmony. Having overcome her anxiety about the future of the school, Starlight hugs Twilight and the two head out to join their friends to celebrate.